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The lion that wouldn’t eat meat

From 1946 to 1955, A female African lion, born and raised in America, lived her
entire lifetime of nine years without ever eating meat.1 In fact, her owners, Georges and Margaret Westbeau,2 alarmed by scientists’
reports that carnivorous animals cannot live without meat, went to great lengths
to try to coax their unusual pet (‘Little Tyke’) to develop a taste
for it. They even advertised a cash reward for anyone who could devise a meat-containing
formula that the lioness would like. The curator of a New York zoo advised the Westbeaus
that putting a few drops of blood in Little Tyke’s milk bottle would help
in weaning her, but the lioness cub refused to touch it—even when only a single
drop of blood had been added.

The more knowledgeable animal experts among the many visitors to the Westbeaus’
100 acre (40 hectare) ranch also proffered advice, but nothing worked. Meanwhile,
Little Tyke continued to do extremely well on a daily diet of cooked grain, raw
eggs and milk. By four years of age she was fully grown and weighed 352 pounds (160
kg).

Little Tyke continued to do extremely well on a daily diet of cooked grain, raw
eggs and milk. By four years of age she was fully grown and weighed 352 pounds (160
kg)

As Georges Westbeau writes, it was ‘a young visitor’ to Hidden Valley
ranch who finally put his mind at ease in response to the question of how Little
Tyke could be persuaded to eat meat (thought to be essential for carnivores to survive):

‘He turned to look at me with serious eyes, then asked, “Don’t
you read your Bible’? I admitted I didn’t read it as much as I probably
should. He continued, “Read Genesis 1:30, and you will get your answer.’ At my
first opportunity I got my Bible and turned to the passage he had indicated. To
my astonishment, I read these words: “And to every beast
of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to everything that creepeth upon
the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it
was so.’

Television footage and newspaper photos of Little Tyke also moved many people, such
as one who wrote, ‘Nothing has made me happier than your picture of the lion
and the lamb. It has helped me believe in the Bible.’

The owners of Little Tyke, though apparently not Christians, were so reassured by
this that they no longer worried about her refusal to eat meat, and turned their
attention instead to refining her ‘vegetarian’3 diet further, learning of new grains to add to the
lioness’s food. These numerous grains were ground and stirred together while
in the dry state, then cooked and mixed with the milk and eggs. The lioness was
fed this mixture each morning and evening, and sometimes at midday as well. (To
condition her teeth and gums—as she steadfastly refused all offers of bones
to gnaw—Little Tyke was given heavy rubber boots to chew on, which generally
lasted about three weeks.) The lioness not only survived on this diet, she thrived.
One of America’s ‘most able zoo curators’ apparently said that
the lioness ‘was the best of her species he had ever viewed.’

As well as Little Tyke, the Westbeaus cared for a menagerie of other animals at
their ranch. A large number of the many visitors to Hidden Valley were motivated
by the prospect of seeing ‘the lion that lives with the lamb’—a
situation similar to the prophecies of Isaiah 11:6. The sight of the lioness living placidly alongside
sheep, cattle, and peafowl made a profound impression on many visitors. Television
footage4 and newspaper photos
of Little Tyke also moved many people, such as one who wrote, ‘Nothing has
made me happier than your picture of the lion and the lamb. It has helped me believe
in the Bible.’

In the light of Little Tyke’s situation, along with anecdotes of other carnivorous
animals surviving on vegetarian diets,5
it is certainly easier to relate to the Genesis account of animals living solely
on plants before Adam’s Fall.6

Mr Westbeau’s observation of the lioness that ‘To condition her stomach
she would spend an hour at a time eating the succulent tall grass in the fields’,
is also a vivid reminder of the prophecies of Isaiah 11:7 and 65:25, ‘ … the lion will eat
straw like the ox.’

References and notes

The lioness had been given to the Westbeaus as a badly mauled
one-day-old cub, by the zoo where her mother was kept. The mother had killed all
cubs from her four earlier pregnancies immediately after birth. This time though,
anxious zoo attendants were standing by, ready to scramble to rescue the offspring
at the moment of delivery. With ‘Little Tyke’ they succeeded—but
not before the mother’s quick and powerful jaws had injured the cub’s
right front leg. Return to text.

Many people would include eggs in ‘vegetarian’
diets today, if unfertilised, as no killing of animals is involved. Though it seems
unlikely that eggs (or milk for adult animals) were part of the pre-Fall diet, the
point to note here is that lions do not need meat to survive. Many plants are now
extinct; it is highly likely that there were very rich protein sources in the pre-Fall
/ pre-Flood plant kingdom. Return to text.

Sadly, while in Hollywood for filming of a nation-wide television
broadcast, Little Tyke contracted pneumonia, and she died a few weeks later.
Return to text.

While living in Indonesia in the 1980s,
several families told me that they never fed meat to their pet dogs—though
it is possible that bones might have been present in the scraps fed to them. Other
reports suggest that this is a widespread phenomenon in that country.
Return to text.

The Bible does not give us details of how the change from
plant-eating to meat-eating has occurred after the Fall; one possibility is by divine
‘redesign’. Hence, even if lions today did need meat to survive, it
would not invalidate Genesis. See Creation Ministries’ The Creation Answers
Book for a fuller discussion. Return to text.

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Reader’s comments

A detail Ref vegetarian diet/meat in 1 Timothy 4 - eating steaks is OK, but lets see the rest of the story down to verse 5: For it is sanctified by the Word of God and prayer. Where does the Word specify and sanctify (i.e. "set apart for holy use") certain foods - only in Leviticus. Act 15 tells us however to abstain from ... food offered to idols and from blood... As the veggy Lion, I can't wait till the new Heavens and new Earth when the Earth will be so plentiful again and we will dine alonside Lions. Come Jesus Come!

This is also a great example of how animals would have coexisted together on the ark. Perhaps, the two lions that were on board the ark had the mindset of this lion that it would not eat meat. Many atheists have challenged me, "Why didn't the lions eat the other animals on the ark?" Well, this would be a good starting point to answer that question.

Bear in mind also that the 'lions' might be more accurately described as the two representatives of the 'big cat' kind that God brought to Noah, from which lions and tigers are descended. See Ligers and wholphins? What next? (This is also relevant to answer the frequently-asked question about how the animals could have fitted into the Ark.)

Truly remarkable. As for me, I’ll take a juicy steak. Concerning vegetarians & spirituality: Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which Believe and Know the Truth.

Wow this truly a testimony, very very exciting to read of this lion, thank God for giving us the glimpses of Eden, many of us continue to be influenced by the evolutionary thinking around us to believe that Eden was so long ago yet it is not that far back and the evidence is all around us.

What a wonderful example of God's Word showing the veracity of Genesis as the only accurate account of His creation. I would like to thank Creation Ministries for helping me in my Witness of the Love of Christ and when I start my witness I always start With Jesus and Genesis. May the Lord continue to bless your ministry.

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